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Recommendations based on Collected Poems, 1947-1980by Allen Ginsberg
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Howl and Other Poems
by Allen Ginsberg
A collection of poems exploring themes of individualism and modern culture.
The Dharma Bums
by Jack Kerouac
A journey of self-discovery, fueled by a passion for Buddhism and nature.
The character Japhy drives Ray Smith's story, whose penchant for simplicity and Zen Buddhism influenced Kerouac on the eve of the sudden and unpredicted success of, On the Road, . The action shifts ... (Wikipedia)
Collected Poems, 1909-1962
by T.S. Eliot
Exploration of the complexities of life and the human condition, through innovative and experimental verse.
There is no more authoritative collection of the poetry that Eliot himself wished to preserve than this volume, published two years before his death in 1965., Poet, dramatist, critic, and editor, T. ... (Barnes & Noble)
Junky
by William S. Burroughs
A gritty, autobiographical account of a man's descent into the underworld of addiction.
Before his 1959 breakthrough, Naked Lunch , an unknown William S. Burroughs wrote Junky , his first novel. It is a candid eye-witness account of times and places that are now long gone, an ... (Goodreads)
The Colossus and Other Poems
by Sylvia Plath
A collection of poems exploring the topics of death, despair, and identity.
With this startling, exhilarating book of poems, which was first published in 1960, Sylvia Plath burst into literature with spectacular force. In such classics as "The Beekeeper's Daughter," "The ... (Goodreads)
Naked Lunch
by William S. Burroughs
Surrealist exploration of addiction, delusions, and reality.
Naked Lunch is a non-linear narrative without a clear plot. The following is a summary of some of the events in the book that could be considered the most relevant. The book begins with the ... (Wikipedia)
The Brothers Karamazov
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A philosophical exploration of morality, faith, and family dynamics among a group of brothers.
The Brothers Karamazov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich ... (Goodreads)
On the Road
by Jack Kerouac
A young man's journey across America, seeking adventure and freedom.
The two main characters of the book are the narrator, Sal Paradise, and his friend Dean Moriarty, much admired for his carefree attitude and sense of adventure, a free-spirited maverick eager to ... (Wikipedia)
The Subterraneans
by Jack Kerouac
A young man's search for love and acceptance in a world of cultural and racial tensions.
Jack Kerouac, one of the great voices of the Beat generation and author of the classic On the Road , here continues his peregrinations in postwar, underground San Francisco. "The subterraneans" come ... (Goodreads)
Steppenwolf
by Hermann Hesse
The inner struggles of a tortured soul as he searches for redemption.
The book is presented as a manuscript written by its protagonist , a middle-aged man named Harry Haller, who leaves it to a chance acquaintance, the nephew of his landlady. The acquaintance adds a ... (Wikipedia)
Hot Water Music
by Charles Bukowski
A collection of Bukowski's works exploring themes of love, death, and the human experience.
With his characteristic raw and minimalist style, Charles Bukowski takes us on a walk through his side of town in, Hot Water Music,. He gives us little vignettes of depravity and lasciviousness, bite ... (Goodreads)
Blankets
by Craig Thompson
A young man's journey of faith, love, and growing up in a rural Wisconsin town.
Wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin winter, Blankets explores the sibling rivalry of two brothers growing up in the isolated country, and the budding romance of two coming-of-age lovers. ... (Goodreads)
House of Leaves
by Mark Z. Danielewski
A family discovers a hidden door in their home leading to an ever-shifting labyrinth.
House of Leaves begins with a first-person narrative by Johnny Truant, a Los Angeles tattoo parlor employee and professed unreliable narrator . Truant is searching for a new apartment when his friend ... (Wikipedia)
A Coney Island of the Mind
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
A collection of poems exploring human experience and the beauty of nature.
The title of this book is taken from Henry Miller's "Into the Night Life" and expresses the way Lawrence Ferlinghetti felt about these poems when he wrote them during a short period in the 1950's—as ... (Goodreads)
The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear
by Walter Moers
An epic fantasy adventure of a bear-like creature exploring a mysterious world of magic and monsters.
Captain Bluebear tells the story of his first 13-1/2 lives spent on the mysterious continent of Zamonia, where intelligence is an infectious disease, water flows uphill, and dangers lie in wait for ... (Goodreads)
Collected Poems
by Dylan Thomas
A collection of poems that showcase the lyrical and imaginative style of Dylan Thomas, exploring themes of life, death, love, and nature.
This is a list of the works by Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas . ... (Wikipedia)
Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?
by Raymond Carver
An exploration of mundane moments and everyday lives of ordinary people.
With this, his first collection, Carver breathed new life into the short story. In the pared-down style that has since become his hallmark, Carver showed us how humour and tragedy dwelt in the hearts ... (Goodreads)
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
by Sherman Alexie
A collection of interconnected short stories about life on the Spokane Indian Reservation, exploring themes of identity, loss, and survival.
In this darkly comic short story collection, Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, brilliantly weaves memory, fantasy, and stark realism to paint a complex, grimly ironic portrait of life ... (Goodreads)
E.E. Cummings: Complete Poems 1904-1962
by E.E. Cummings
Collection of iconic poetry from the American modernist, exploring themes of life and love.
At the time of his death in 1962, E. E. Cummings was, next to Robert Frost, the most widely read poet in America. Combining Thoreau's controlled belligerence with the brash abandon of an uninhibited ... (Goodreads)
Confessions of a Mask
by Yukio Mishima
A young man's inner turmoil as he struggles to reconcile his true self with society's expectations.
The protagonist is referred to in the story as Kochan, which is the diminutive of the author's real name: Kimitake. Being raised during Japan's era of right-wing militarism and Imperialism, he ... (Wikipedia)
Breakfast of Champions
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
A humorous exploration of life's absurdities, through a madcap journey of a protagonist.
Kilgore Trout is a widely published, but ignored and virtually invisible writer who is invited to deliver a keynote address at a local arts festival in distant Midland City. Dwayne Hoover is a ... (Wikipedia)
The Idiot
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A man's struggle to find his place in society, and the moral dilemmas he faces.
Prince Myshkin, a young man in his mid-twenties and a descendant of one of the oldest Russian lines of nobility, is on a train to Saint Petersburg on a cold November morning. He is returning to ... (Wikipedia)
The Collected Poems
by Langston Hughes
A compilation of works reflecting the African-American experience through a poetic lens.
Spanning five decades and comprising 868 poems (nearly 300 of which have never before appeared in book form), this magnificent volume is the definitive sampling of a writer who has been called the ... (Goodreads)
The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats
by W.B. Yeats
Exploration of loss, love, and life's journey through the lens of Irish folklore and literature.
The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats includes all of the poems authorized by Yeats for inclusion in his standard canon. Breathtaking in range, it encompasses the entire arc of his career, from luminous ... (Goodreads)
Love Is a Dog from Hell
by Charles Bukowski
A poetic exploration of the human experience, from joy to heartache and everything in between.
Collection of poems rising from and returning to Bukowski's personal experiences reflect people, objects, places, and events of the external world, and reflects on them, on their way out and back. ... (Goodreads)
Invisible Man
by Ralph Ellison
A black man's journey towards self-actualization in a world of racial oppression.
The narrator, an unnamed black man, begins by describing his living conditions: an underground room wired with hundreds of electric lights, operated by power stolen from the city's electric grid. He ... (Wikipedia)
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
by Haruki Murakami
A surreal journey of self-discovery, exploring the inner and outer worlds.
The first part, "The Thieving Magpie", begins with the narrator, Toru Okada, a low-key and unemployed lawyer's assistant, being tasked by his wife, Kumiko, to find their missing cat. Kumiko suggests ... (Wikipedia)
The Museum of Innocence
by Orhan Pamuk
A story of unrequited love set in the city of Istanbul, exploring the power of nostalgia and memory.
Kemal has been engaged to a pretty girl named Sibel for two months when he meets a shop girl, Füsun, while buying a handbag for his fiancee. What follows in the next month and a half is an intense ... (Wikipedia)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
by Hunter S. Thompson
A wild and hallucinatory journey through the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas.
The basic synopsis revolves around journalist Raoul Duke ( Hunter S. Thompson ) and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo ( Oscar Zeta Acosta ), as they arrive in Las Vegas in 1971 to report on the Mint 400 ... (Wikipedia)
Last Exit to Brooklyn
by Hubert Selby Jr.
A gritty, dark exploration of post-WWII life in Brooklyn and its inhabitants.
Few novels have caused as much debate as Hubert Selby Jr.'s notorious masterpiece, Last Exit to Brooklyn, and this Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Irvine Welsh, author of ... (Goodreads)
